lap band is a dream buster. beware of this surgery

ok i know,i know there are tons of you on here who will disagree with me, but i know there are ones out there who will. i got the band back in april, with so many hopes and dreams. i was suppose to be skinny by summer. WELL THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. i did lose 45 pretty quick but it has been months since i lost anything. now my day begins with me getting up and not being able to eat anything. once in awhile i can eat some cereal. i am lucky if that doesn't come back up. ok lunch time, that get stuck so bad that i puke everything up that i ate. if you know your going to puke it is much easier if you take a drink of something, comes up way better that way. dinner time is the same thing. my family knows "my stuck " look. then my little one knows i am going to vomit when i go to the bathroom. " you puking again mommy?' i would never ever recommend this band to anyone. i could of lost this weight by myself, without paying 8k for it. i eat less that 1000 calories a day, to anyone else i am or should be starving. it just deosn't make sense. on the days that i can eat, if i eat like a child size portion i feel like i am eating like a pig, in actuality i am not eating enough to feed a child. life on the band SUCKS!!! like my goal in life is to be a bulmeic, cause that's what i am. i am straving me body. and losing nothing. and i don't want to hear any BS about needing an unfill because my doctor said i am the correct fill. my body just seems to tighten up all by itself and i am tight as heck. i wrote this so those of you considering the band will think twice, because you can lose that by self without paying through the ass for it. there are alot better alternatives out there. and by the way if you have a huge bmi you will lose it quicker, but you will plateau and then you feel the same way that i do.

Wow, I feel really bad that all this sh** has happened to ya.  It just sounds awful. 

Regardless of what your doctor says, if you are throwing up every meal you are TOO TIGHT!   Get an unfill and get some relief---you are your own advocate and you have to do what's right for you.  There are MANY success stories with the band and none mention throwing up every meal.   I also find it hard to believe that Dr. Ortiz who is very knowledgable and well-respected would allow you to continue to throw up multiple times a day, if he knew.

you are probably right, but let me tellyou something about dr. ortiz. after my surgery i was in sooo much pain from the gas that i called mexico CRYING because i needed some relief and wanted to know what to do. THEY WOULD NOT RETURN MY CALLS, THEY WOULDNLT REPLY TO MY E-MAILS. THEY GOT MY MONEY AND  THAT WAS ALL THEY CARED ABOUT.!!!!!!!!! i am telling you i thought i was going to die 'bcause of the gas pains, and they could care less. at the hospital mrs ortiz was mad cause i didnt want to go back to the hotel. and she basically pushed me out the door so the next patient could have my bed. WHEN ARE YOU PEOPLE GOING TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE DOING THI SFO RTHE MONEY. THOSE MEXICANS LIVE IN THE USA, MAKE APPROXIMATELY 306k A WEEK!!!! A WEEK THAT IS 6 PEOPLE A DAY AT 6 DAYS FOR 8500 EACH. THAT MAN IS MAKING OVER  A MILLION A MONTH. AND DO YOU THINK HE PAYS HIS MEXICAN EMPLOYEES GOOD? HELL NO!!! HE PAYS THEM IN PESOS. HE LIVES IN THE us HE HAS YACHTS, CARS THE GOOD LIFE. WHY DO YO UTHUNK HE DOES THAT??? NOT BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT OBESE PEOPLE, BUT BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT OBESE PAYCHECKS.  IF HE HAD AN CLINIC IN THE US HE WOULDN'T BE HALF THE MILLIONAIRE THAT HE IS.... CHEW ON THAT THOUGHT FOR AWHILE.

So sue him. In the mean time...who the hell CARES what his motivation is? That is all irrelevant to you and what you are now doing to make this work.

dude, wha are you talking about. someone said he wouldnl' allow that to happen, and all i said is he doesn't care after he gets the check. pay attention next time.

uhhhhhh....not a dude................just trying to help you move from worrying about his motivation to what you can do now. Don't get so defensive/

I saw what my insurance company paid my surgeon and I couldn't believe it. She got so little from them for my surgery.  The anesthesiologist  got $250 only.  The hospital got a mere pittance too.  I am sure that those self pays in Mexico make those doctors way richer than the good american ones.  I don't know why people go to mexico since self pays can negotiate with doctors to get them to take the contracted rate they get from insurance.  I do this all the time with doctors here in the u.s. on procefures I can't get the insurance to cover.  I had to pay for my own mri once and the price was $1800 and I got the facility to take $225 cash on the day of service.  I wouldn't go to mexico for surgery for love or  money. Most of the problems with the band on this forum are patients that went out of the country.  Sad.

Boney,  As a new Bandster please wait awhile before you speak.  We have MANY, MANY banded patients from Mexico that have had NO problems and are at goal.  Sandy R, Nancy B, WorkinProgress--all are Mexican patients and doing fantastic.   Furthermore, where do you think American docs learned to band people from when the band was FINALLY approved in the US in 2001??  From the Mexican Docs!!  They have been banding and quite SUCCESSFULLY for years.   You can have problems with your surgery regardless where you have it...and by no means are the majority of problems on this forum from Mexican Bandsters.   You are going to **** off a lot of Successful Bandsters and Qualified Docs with your generalized and frankly mis-informed opinions. P.S.  I was banded right here in the US.

Tonya, I used to feel the need to come to the defense of "Mexico", but it really doesn't get to me anymore. Most people don't know what they are talking about, and I don't really want to take the time to inform them. You are one of the ones that "get it" though, and I appreciate you and what you said!  The real problem lies in the AFTERCARE, whether your doctor lives in another country, or down the street from you. If you don't take care of your band and see a fill person REGULARLY, you will not do well with this. Placing the band is such a small part of the process.